Philadelphia Maritime Exchange Collection

This collection consists of bound volumes containing handwritten entries recording information deemed to be essential to commercial trade on the river by the Philadelphia Maritime Exchange (PME). This includes documentation of ship arrivals and departures, ship cargoes, ship movements on the river, and required government documentation.

This series consists of those volumes that are primarily related to the documentation of ship arrivals and clearances. Along with the ship names and the date of sail, these volumes also often include the name of the ship's captain, the port sailing from or to, and occasionally, information on the ship's cargo and the owner. The most complete set of records in terms of chronological coverage are contained in the two subgroup volumes entitled "Arrivals" and "Clearances." Both of these subgroups host nearly complete chronological coverage from 1875 to 1967. This group also contains an extensive run of indexes that provide an alphabetical guide according to ship name, running from 1921 to 1955, with only the few years missing that are listed.